Alright here it is! The LAST chapter! I want to thank so many people for being so supportive of me in my very first fanfiction. Everyone of your reviews made my day/night/whatever time it was. And shout out to Melissa and Joey the show for being my inspiration! And i honestly don't know why you are reading this when their is a final chapter right there that you could be reading instead! But thanks for laughing at my authors notes. YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY AWESOME. With out your 21,837 views and 115 reviews this story would be a random document on my computer.

I am sorry it took me so long to get this one finished but it is 3860 words so that is definitely a record for length in this story. I really hope you like it!

I guess this is goodbye!

Mel was half awake. The first thought that entered her mind was: Are they okay? Are my twins okay?!She attempted to open her eyes, but they were so heavy, it was as if they were glued shut. She could vaguely recognize the voices of Lennox and Ryder. How did they get here? Are they missing school? Their words were difficult to decipher. Then she noticed that someone was holding her right hand. Oh my God. Is that Joe?

Then she realized someone else was holding her left hand. Who the hell is that?... Oh wait Charles! She tried again to open her eyes.

Joe was sitting on the right side of Mel's bed. He was gently holding her hand and trying very hard to stay calm.

"Ryder, let's go get something to eat," Lennox said, "We've been sitting here for like an hour. I need some blood flow." She and Ryder got up and left the room.

There were a few moments of silence. Charles let go of Mel's hand for a second to wipe it on his pants.

"So..." Joe started to say something, but his voice trailed off.

"Hey, Joe," Charles began.

"Yeah?" Joe was eager to find a conversation topic.

"Can I tell you something?"

"I guess."

"Um, I proposed to Mel."What? But I proposed to Mel. Shit, this is gonna be really awkward. Who am I kidding? It's already really awkward.

"That's awesome man!" Joe said a little too overenthusiastically. He reached over the bed to pat Charles on the shoulder.

"But she didn't say yes."

"Aw, man! Tough break."

YES!

"I mean, she didn't say no either, but right after I asked her... her water broke and she didn't have time to answer."Damn it.

"Oh. Okay, well..."

Charles put his head in his hand, "I just really needed to get that off my chest."

Finally, Mel managed to get her eyes open. She looked around. Everyone was gone. Maybe she had been imagining all of those people. There was a glass of water on the table next to her. She moved to grab the glass, but winced and fell back, "Ow."

She sat there for a few minutes and then muttered to herself, "Now how am I supposed to figure out whether my babies are okay..."

"I can help you!" said a voice that seemed to be coming from nowhere.

"Um, who's there?" Mel raised her eyebrows.

"You can't see me. I'm the other patient who shares this room with you."

Mel looked around and saw a curtain, "Oh, you're on the other side of this curtain?"

"Yes. And I must say I have had nothing to do all day but listen to your family. And they are actually quite interesting."

Mel laughed nervously. She paused to think. Wait a minute. This woman can tell me what I want to know! She immediately replied, "Tell me everything you know!"

"Well for starters, the two men are in the bathroom and the kids are getting food."

"They went to the bathroom together? That's weird," Mel adjusted herself to be more comfortable, "Tell me more. Do you know anything about the status of my twins?"

"Well, I'm not one to fully understand medical terms, but I'm quite certain both of them are fine based on what I heard."

Mel let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, now that I know about that, tell me about what the others were saying."

"Based on what I could hear, there were two men and two girls."

"But wait... Ryder... I guess he could easily be mistaken for a girl," Mel shrugged, "Go on."

"The two younger ones seemed bored."

"I don't blame them. I was bored and I was unconscious."

"And so they went to get something to eat."

"Okay... and?"

"The other two, whichever one is not your husband, proposed to someone today."Oh my God. Now I remember. Charles proposed to me. He gave me this really gorgeous ring and I was looking at it right before I passed out. I need to find that ring!

Mel looked around. Her eyes fell on the small velvet box on the same table as the glass of water. She reached out to grab it and cringed, "Damn c-section. I can barely move."

She then noticed a button next to her bed. It said 'for assistance' on it. She pressed it. When nothing happened, a few seconds later, she pressed it again. Getting impatient, she pressed it about ten times.

A middle-aged woman in scrubs walked through the door. She droned, "Is everything okay?"

"Actually no, I have two questions. One: Are my babies okay?"

"Ma'am, I don't really know that stuff. I'm just the woman who is on call in case someone needs water."

"Okay fine, then question two: will you just hand me that box over there?"

The nurse walked over to the table and picked up the box, "Is that an engagement ring?"

"I think so," Mel took the velvet box. She opened it slowly. Inside was the shiny gold-banded ring with a huge diamond in the center.

Mel laughed, "He isn't the dad." The nurse's eyebrows rose, "I didn't cheat on him or anything. It's sort of a long story."

"Well, I clearly have time," The nurse said sarcastically.

"Okay, I guess I can tell you," Mel didn't pick up on the sarcasm. She told the nurse the whole story. How she had a drunken one-night stand with her nanny. How when she found out she was pregnant, she lied and said it was some other random guy's. How she finally told Joe and he surprisingly wanted to be involved with the baby. She told her how after getting in a fight with Joe, she met Charles and they went on a bunch of dates and he was really nice. How she hadn't been completely honest with Charles about the fact that her nanny was also the father of her twins. And then how just in the last twenty-four hours, she had almost had sex with Joe again and then Charles proposed to her.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

There was a moment of silence when Mel was done.

"Aw, sweetie," sniffled the woman on the other side of the curtain.

The nurse however remained expressionless and replied in monotone, "Wow, how fascinating."

"And now I don't really know what to do..." Mel thought for a minute, "The thing is-"

Charles walked into the room. He smiled lightly at her, "I had a feeling you would be awake." He kissed her forehead.

"Are the twins okay?" Mel asked, shoving the ring in her hand and hid them under the sheet.

"Yeah, they're fine according to Joe. The Doctor told him. The c-section went smoother than expected and everyone is fine," Charles took her hand.

"Where did Joe go?"

"I'm not sure... Last I saw of him, he was talking to this random girl in the lobby. I say talking, more like flirting. They seemed to be really hitting it off."Okay... So he has clearly moved on since our fifteen second make-out session."Oh," Mel looked down.

"Listen, Mel-" His phone rang. He checked it, "Listen, I have to take this. It's the babysitter. It might be about Emma." He left the room.

The nurse was still standing very discretely in the corner, "Is that the guy who gave you the ring?"

Mel nodded.

"Is the daddy the one who was flirting with a random girl?"

Mel nodded.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Mel paused and then nodded slowly. The nurse walked out. She pulled out the ring and slowly put it on her finger. She sighed.

Joe walked in.

Mel didn't have to look up. She could tell by the sound of his steps that it was him, "Longo." She didn't bother hiding the ring from him. She trusted him.

"Burke," Joe was relatively unobservant and didn't notice the ring.

"Guess what?" She smiled a little, "I did it!"

"Did what?" Joe joked. They both chuckled, "I just talked to the nurse. We can bring the twins in here in a few minutes."

"Oh! I was so caught up in making sure they were okay I forgot to ask! Are they boys or girls?"

Joe smiled, "Hmm, I think I'm going to make you suffer and not tell you."

"No, don't do that to me!" Mel pleaded. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to her, "Was I right about having a girl?"

His balance faltered and he ended up almost falling on top of her. He caught himself and stepped away, laughing.

Did she open the box with the ring in it? Does she remember the kiss?"You will have to wait and see," They sat laughing for a few minutes.

"Joe," Mel suddenly became serious, "I have to tell you something."

Joe looked at her.

Maybe she did look at the ring.

"I'm engaged."Wow, that was assertive. And a sort of weird way to say it. Wait… oh my God, she's saying yes to me!

Joe smiled, "Really?"

Why is he smiling? I guess he really did hit it off with that nurse.

"Yeah... Charles asked me right before I went into labor."

Joe's face fell, "What?"

"And I'm going to say yes."

"Really?"

"See? This is the ring," Mel held up her hand.

Joe's eyes widened when he saw the familiar band, "Um, Mel..."

"And listen, Joe, about that weird almost-having-sex thing," Mel began, "I think it'd be best if we just keep that between you and me."

Shit, she doesn't remember that we kissed. She doesn't know that that ring is from me.

"Um, Mel..."

"Now where are the nurses? I want to meet my girls... or boys... I honestly don't care. I will love them to death no matter what."

Huh… weird, that wasn't a lie.

"I'll go check," Joe started to walk out the door, but stopped, "Hey, Mel?"

"Yeah?" Mel was distracted by the ring on her finger, but looked up at the sound of his voice.

"I have to tell you something," Joe started. Mel's mouth fell open a little bit as he continued, "I um... got offered a job..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Apparently I'm not completely blacklisted as the guy who was the cause of a financial scandal. Anyway, this job... the pay is really good and it's really high up in the business world and it's... in California."

Mel was expressionless for about a second before her face lit up with a forced smile, "You should call them and tell them that you'll take it!"

"Oh, sorry, I just assumed when I saw him hand you the velvet box earlier today that he had just proposed."

"What?!"

Joe walked outside into the hall. He slowly made his way down the hall and to the window where you can look in at the newborns. He looked in the window. There were a lot of babies in there. He could barely tell which ones were his except for that their cribs had "Burke" written on them.

He pulled out his cell phone and started to dial the job offer.

"I don't think they would want to grow up without their father."

Joe turned around, "Charles?"

Charles stood in front of Joe with his hands in his pockets. Joe stopped dialing and pocketed his phone. He smiled as brightly as he could muster, "Hey, man."

"I saw you guys kissing. I was coming back from parking the car and..." His voice faded out.

Joe barely blinked. On the inside, his thoughts were racing a mile a minute: It doesn't matter. She doesn't remember that kiss. And if she did, it wouldn't matter. She wants to be with you. She told me.

Meanwhile, back in Mel's room, Mel sat in bed thinking.

It's coming back to me. Joe and I kissed. He gave me that box. I opened it and then I went unconscious. He proposed. The ring I'm wearing... It's from Joe!

Mel stood up and immediately winced in pain.

"Whoa there!" The Doctor gently got her back into the bed, "You are still on bed rest."

"She's in love with you," Joe said firmly.

"If she is, she hasn't told me yet," Charles looked at the floor.

Joe's eyebrows went up, "Wait… really?"

Charles nodded.

"But I have to go talk to him!"

"I have to go talk to her!"

"You aren't going anywhere! You are on bed rest!" The Doctor said firmly.

Joe ran over to the elevator. He incessantly pressed the button, "C'mon c'mon c'mon..."

"Damn it, hurry up!"

After another minute and still no elevator, he ran over to the stairwell. He was on the second floor and started his journey to run up five flights of stairs to get to Mel.

"Sorry, Doctor, but I need to talk to Longo," Mel asserted. She regained her balance and headed for the door.

The Doctor stepped in front of her, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."

"I'm sorry," Mel was obstinate, "I just really need you to move!"

Meanwhile, Joe was still running up the flights of stairs when he ran into the Janitor.

"Sorry, bud," the Janitor said kindly, "But I just mopped those stairs. I wouldn't go up those if I were you. They're slippery." The Janitor headed down the stairs.

Once he was gone, Joe's eyes narrowed, "Slippery, my ass."

He started to continue up the stairs. They were really slippery stairs. He lost his balance and fell on his butt. He sighed, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna take the elevator."

He walked out of the stairwell and over to the elevator. He pushed the up button and waited.

"Um, dude?"

Joe turned around and saw a kid with about fifty piercings, "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering why you're standing in front of the elevator that's out of order."

"Please please please please please!" Mel begged the Doctor, "I just have to talk to him for like five seconds or maybe just give him a kiss or something. That's all I want!"

The Doctor opened her mouth to protest, but sighed, giving in, "You have five minutes."

Mel bolted out the door.

"No running!" The Doctor shouted.

Mel got into the hall and looked around, "Joe?"

Nothing.

A nurse brushed by her. She walked down the hall to the waiting room and peered through the doorway, "Joe?"

Still nothing.

"Wait a minute! He must have gone outside to get better reception on his phone!" Mel walked over to the elevator.

"Um, ma'am?" said a woman behind the nurses' desk, "That elevator is out of order. Plus, patients aren't allowed to leave their floors without paperwork."

"But-" Mel had no energy to argue anymore. She sighed and begrudgingly started walking down the hall back to her room.

"Mel!"

She turned around.

And there he was. He was a little worse for wear from trying to climb slippery stairs, but it was still him.

She walked towards him and then started to run, "Yes." She laid her hands on his chest.

Joe cocked his head to one side.

"Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Joe's mouth fell open.

Mel looked taken aback, "That is... if you'll still have me..." She suddenly became very aware of what she was doing.

Joe's mouth closed.

"Joe?" Mel started to panic, "Joe! Say something! I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but I-"

He kissed her.

All of their other kisses paled in comparison to this one. This one was real, mutual and intentional. And both of them knew that when they parted from this kiss, they wouldn't walk their separate ways and pretend it hadn't happened.

They broke apart.

"All right, Longo, this is it," Mel beamed, "You and me. Try not to ruin it."

Joe scratched his chin, "I don't know, Burke... I think we should take it slow."

There were several seconds in which Mel looked at him and then down at her stomach with an expression of sincere confusion.

"I was kidding," Joe laughed, "It was a joke."

Mel shook her head, but she was smiling, "You."

"What?"

"Just you... God, you make me so irritated sometimes," She was still smiling.

"What the hell is PDA?" Joe asked, turning around. His hand still rested on Mel's hip.

"It means 'public display of affection.' Duh, Joe!" Mel was clearly quite pleased with herself for keeping up with the latest abbreviations.

"But seriously guys," Ryder said with a mouth full of something orange, "I think I may be scarred for life."

"Yeah, it's okay if you guys are together, but please… no kissing in front of us. It's gross," Lennox added, with a smile curling onto her lips.

The Doctor came down the hall, "All right, Mel, your five minutes are up. Please don't make me drag you back to your room."

"No need, Doctor, I found what I was looking for," Mel glanced at Joe. Their hands clasped, fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces.

"Finally," The Doctor said.

Joe and Mel looked at her, confused. Then they looked back at each other and all the confusion was gone. Everyone went back to the room. Mel went to lie down in the bed.

"Is this the Burke room?"

"Burke and Longo,yes," Mel beamed.

"Well, I would like to introduce you to your-"

"Wait! Let me guess!" Mel said excitedly, "They're boys aren't they? Or are they girls? Or one boy and one girl? Oh God, I don't know just tell me… No wait! Don't tell me, I want to guess. No, just tell me. Why are you making me guess?! I-"

That's when the nurse set both of the babies into her arms.

"You were right, Mel," Joe said, rubbing her shoulders, "For once."

Mel glared at him. Then she looked back at the two little bundles in her arms and her face immediately softened, "Hi, girls. My name is Mel- I mean Mommy- I mean Cool Mom- I mean..."

She trailed off when a tiny little hand reached out of the blanket. She let out a sigh, "I mean... you can call me whatever you want."

"Well not whatever you want," Mel said after pausing a second, "Like you can't call me mother fu-"

She shut her mouth, "Looks like I'm going to have to watch my mouth."

"Do you want to name them?" Joe asked quietly.

"What do you mean do I want to name them? Of course I want to name them! Who else would name them? You? You'd probably name them something dumb like Locust or Sandy! So yes, I do want to name them," Mel said quickly.

"Guys, since Lennox is in the bathroom, I'll fill in for her and say what she would say in this situation," Ryder cleared his throat and in a girly voice, he said, "Guys! Remember our deal?! No PDA in front of me and Ryder."

Mel and Joe laughed and then turned back to the twins.

"Okay, how about this," Joe started pragmatically, "We each get to name one of them."

"Not fair," Mel asserted, "What if we disagree? Then we'll have an argument about names for the rest of our lives and we will have a deep-seated grudge towards each other and our marriage will be a failure and-"

"Wow, you are mighty energetic," Joe tried not to laugh because Mel looked genuinely concerned, "We can decide on both names together."

"Her first," Mel gestured at the baby in her left arm with her head. They both stared at her for a moment.

Then Mel quietly said "Allison" at the same time Joe said "Lucy."

Mel turned to him, "Lucy?"

Joe looked at her with a similarly disgusted expression, "Allison?"

They both turned back to the baby.

"Sabrina."

"Sandrine."

"Come on, Joe, I already vetoed that one."

"No. You vetoed Sandy. Sandrine is a very different kind of name."

"I am not naming my daughter after a type of fish."

"Mel, that's sardine."

"Same difference."

"Fine… Let's try this again."

"But what about Sabrina? I really like that name."

Silence.

"Okay, I get it," Mel huffed, "How about Abby?"

Joe didn't look completely appalled, "I actually like that one."

He smiled, "Hi, Abby."

"All right, since I picked the first name, you can pick the middle name."

"Monica."

"What? Ew! Why? That's my mother's name."

"I know. I think it's a good idea to... honor her."

"Have you met my mother?"

Joe laughed, "You said I could pick the middle name."

"Fine," Mel gave in reluctantly, "Now you." She gestured to the baby in her right arm.

A similar process went down before they finally agreed on Kayla Elizabeth.

Mel thought for a second, "I suppose they can have your last name, Joe. Being as I chose their first names."

"Okay!" The nurse was so relieved they finally decided on names. She had been standing there for about an hour, waiting for something that should have taken five to ten minutes, "I should take these two back to their beds. They're probably more tired than I am."

"Wait, what about Lexie?" Mel asked.

"No!" Everyone in the room shouted.

"Yeah, you're right. I like Abby and Kayla."

The nurse came over and took the twins, "We will be back in a half hour for nursing."

Mel suddenly looked terrified, "But I don't know how to..."

"Don't worry, I'll help you," And the nurse left.

"Bye, Kayla! Bye, Abby!" Mel shouted after her twins as the nurse took them out of the room. That left Joe, Mel, Lennox, and Ryder alone in the hospital room.

"Ryder, come with me," Lennox stood up.

"Why?"

"Food."

"Okay!"

And they left. Mel and Joe looked at each other. Joe leaned in and kissed Mel gently on her lips. A look of pure happiness adorned on his face, "You did it!"

Mel stared adoringly into his eyes, her expression mirroring his, and corrected him, "We did it."

Fin.

So epilogue?

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